Landforms of the Gulf Coast - Fine Art Print Map
The Red River joins the Mississippi at a relatively narrow choke point
at Natchez, between the low hills of upland Louisiana and Mississippi.
This marks downstream end of the Mississippi Delta, and the top of the
Mississippi River Delta— the classic fan-shape formed by multiple
meandering distributary channels.
Constant engineering is required to
maintain the single main channel needed for commerce. The Gulf Coast
displays a spectacular array of bays and wetlands, all subject to
shifting water levels, shipping canals, sediment loads, storm tracks,
and climate trends. Maps showing a generalized coastline obscure this
complexity. When the newly-formed U.S. was negotiating with France and
Spain for control of the region— the key to Mississippi river traffic,
and therefore to the development of the continental interior-- the
central issue was "The Island of New Orleans.”
This map is centered roughly on New Orleans.
It includes the Atlantic Coast up to Charleston, South Carolina; on the west, it extends
along the entire Texas coast and another 150 miles south beyond the Rio Grande.
The map covers much of Texas, all of Louisiana and Florida, and the southern halves of
Mississippi, Alabama, and
Georgia.
Dimensions: All dimensions are approximate
